Appzone is one of the standout local fintech software providers for banks and fintechs, providing better pricing and flexibility.
As such, it rebranded to Zone, a licensed blockchain-enabled payment infrastructure company–and carved out its original banking-as-a-service business into a separate standalone company, Qore.
Today, Zone, its blockchain network that enables payments and acceptance of digital currencies, is announcing that it has raised $8.5 million in a seed round.
Therefore, the fintech is developing an interoperable payment infrastructure using blockchain technology — known for its ability to scale infinitely — to connect banks and fintech companies, facilitating transaction flow without intermediaries.
“We are excited by the potential for Zone’s technology to be replicated across borders to advance payment innovation globally.
Since 2022, Youverify has expanded its real-time business verification coverage to 145 jurisdictions across 48 countries.
Across these countries, Youverify processes 4 million monthly applications for over 3,500 businesses with 800 active clients.
Additionally, the platform’s capacity to verify IDs has expanded from 400 million to 5 billion people — as well as 600 million businesses across various industries such as gaming, travel, healthcare, and telecommunications.
“Individuals and businesses can verify their identity, registration status and ownership using their government data through Youverify.
In addition, we launched our anti-money laundering and risk classification product to address some of these industries,” the CEO noted.
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Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.
This is our Wednesday show, focused on startup and venture capital news that matters.
If you are a founder or an investor, this one is for you!
Here’s the day’s rundown:
Remofirst raises $25M to take on Deel and Rippling in the global HR tech spaceIn the world of HR tech startups, there are the Davids and the Goliaths.
Deel and Rippling are the Goliaths, both having raised millions of dollars in venture capital.
But Remofirst, which just secured $25 million in Series A funding, is proving to be a very worthy David.
Remofirst, an HR tech startup, touts that it hires its clients’ employees and contractors in more than 180 countries on their behalf without those companies having to set up local entities.
“We see SMBs as an underserved segment of the market,” Serik told TechCrunch.
MDaaS Global, a Nigerian health tech company that operates a network of tech-enabled diagnostic centers across the country, has secured $3 million in pre-Series A funding.
The seven-year-old health tech also plans to expand its healthcare network to cover all Nigerian states through a combination of company-owned and affiliate clinics.
Improving access to diagnostics and preventive care, a domain where MDaaS has garnered recognition, is essential in tackling this healthcare challenge.
On the other hand, MDaaS’ care network involves collaboration with over 1,300 referring clinicians across more than 1,000 organizations, including hospitals, pharmacies, health tech startups, corporate partners and 34 HMOs.
Since its inception, MDaaS has provided care to over 275,000 patients, leveraging its integrated care network and BeaconOS capabilities.
London-based fintech company Monzo raised a late stage funding round of $430 million (£340 million), confirming a report from the Financial Times from a few weeks ago.
Founded in 2015, Monzo provides UK current accounts, debit cards and several financial products with a digital-first approach.
That’s why Monzo is sort of defying the odds with this new funding round, with Google playing a big part in this investment.
Monzo reached a post-money $4.5 billion valuation in 2022.
Now, Monzo has nine million retail customers in the U.K.
As remote work becomes increasingly prevalent, organizations globally are adapting, especially regarding onboarding procedures for new employees and navigating cross-border payment complexities.
RemotePass, one such business out of the UAE, has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by New York-based 212 VC.
CEO Kamal Reggad and Karim Nadi founded RemotePass in late 2020 to allow businesses to onboard, manage and pay their talent base in countries where they lack local legal presence.
Several companies are actively facilitating remote work and aiding employees in receiving payments from employers.
“Addressing today’s workforce challenges like talent mobility and remote work, RemotePass stands out as a key enabler.
The market for high-level quantum computer science — which applies quantum principles to manage complex computations in areas like finance and artificial intelligence — appears to be quickening its pace.
In the latest development, a startup out of San Sebastian, Spain, called Multiverse Computing is announcing that it has raised €25 million (or $27 million) in an equity funding round led by Columbus Venture Partners.
The funding, which values the startup at €100 million ($108 million), will be used in two main areas.
“Multiverse’s exceptional team will soon apply their unparalleled capability to deliver quantum and quantum-inspired software solutions also within the life sciences and biotechnology markets, where Columbus Venture Partners will help to identify unmet market needs and high-profile industrial partners,” Javier Garcia, a partner at Columbus Venture Partners, in a statement.
Others competing in the same space include the Alphabet spinout Sandbox AQ, Quantum Motion, and Classiq.
Convinced that the infrastructure layer for truly decentralized social apps was lacking, he decided to fill the void, leading to Taiko’s inception in March 2022.
A truly decentralized social networkFor Wang, Taiko provides a critical building block for a social network that is truly owned by users.
The ideal decentralized social app, despite its greater technical challenges, could allow: “1.
Censorship resistance… and thus, freedom of speech.”One of the greatest challenges facing decentralized social apps is content quality and safety.
Each relayer can then filter content that reflects the “unique perspectives” of the underlying decentralized social network, thereby attracting diverse user bases.
But Karma3 Labs is hoping to change that with $4.5 million in fresh capital backing its decentralized reputation protocol OpenRank.
This is the protocol’s first capital raise, Sahil Dewan, founder and CEO of Karma3 Labs, told TechCrunch exclusively.
“We are really obsessed with solving trust and safety issues for crypto,” Dewan said.
“We wanted to create a protocol and generalized system, not as a source of trust, but for anyone to come and build reputation systems,” Dewan said.
The OpenRank protocol allows any developer to use its “Reputation Graphs” for ratings, ranking or recommendations for applications or communities.
